Head Coach Jill Hicks returns for her fifth season at the helm
of the Cal State Fullerton women's gymnastics program charged with
returning the Titans to the national spotlight.

She was hired to the post following the 2006 season as the
fourth head coach in the storied history of the program after
spending one year as the program's assistant coach, helping lead
the Titans to an 8-10 overall record, a season-high score of
193.025, and a sixth-place finish at the Western Athletic
Conference Championships.

That year, two of the Titans' finest were named at alternates to
the NCAA Regional competition in Palo Alto, Calif. Erica Ficarotta
was named in the all-around while Melissa Schafer was named an
alternate on floor.

After taking over the reins in 2007, Hicks immediately went to
work rebuilding the Fullerton program. A young Titans' squad
finished 8-7 overall and posted a 4-1 mark against its WAC rivals.
Cal State Fullerton won three of its first four meets and even
posted an upset of No. 21 Arizona State before finishing fifth at
the conference championships in Boise, Idaho.

For her efforts, Hicks was named the 2007 WAC Coach of the Year
and Nicole Lim was named an NCAA Regional alternate on beam after
averaging a 9.641 in the event and ranking No. 24 in the west
region with a regional qualifying score of 9.775 during the
season.

In 2008, the Titans finished 6-14 overall and finished sixth at
the WAC Championships, but she had three student-athletes (Alaina
Baker in the all-around, Maddie Steinauer on vault, and Jessica
Tait as an alternate on beam) selected to compete at NCAA Regionals
- the first for Cal State Fullerton since 2005. Baker finished
seventh in the all-around with a 38.900, narrowly missing out on a
trip to nationals by .125. Steinauer finished tied for 14th on
vault with a 9.775.

The 2009 season saw Fullerton improve slightly in the win
column, finishing 7-10 overall and a spot higher at the WAC
Championships, posting a 192.975 to finish fifth. For the second
straight season, the Titans were represented in the national
spotlight as Hicks helped coach both Baker (ninth in the all-around
with a 38.850) and Steinauer (t13th on vault with a 9.80) back to
the NCAA Regionals.

In 2010, with the program poised on the brink of extinction,
Hicks successfully directed a major fund-raising campaign to keep
the program afloat while also leading the team to a 4-10 mark and a
fifth-place finish at the WAC Championships held at Titan Gym.
Baker, who was a first-team all-conference choice in three events,
was selected to compete at the NCAA Regionals in the all-around for
the third consecutive season where she finished 11th overall.

In her four seasons with the program, her student-athletes have
also excelled in the classroom as 20 gymnasts have been named to
the Academic All-WAC teams 42 times and 26 student-athletes have
been named to the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics
Coaches Scholastic All-America honor roll a total of 39 times. In
2008, Cal State Fullerton finished sixth in the nation with a team
GPA of 3.5867.

A former assistant coach for 14 years at her alma mater of
Oregon State, Hicks returned to her native Southern California
eight years ago and was a coach and choreographer at the National
Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo, Calif., before joining
the Fullerton staff on Aug. 3, 2005.

Hicks, who is married to Titans' ninth-year wrestling coach Dan
Hicks, was an elite gymnast with SCATS and a national team member,
but a knee injury nipped her collegiate career in the bud.

She served as an undergraduate "coach" for the Beavers for four
years until her graduation in 1982 and then returned for a
full-fledged stint from 1987 through 1997. In that time period, the
Beavers made nine consecutive NCAA appearances and produced 33
All-Americans and five national champions. Her primary areas of
focus were balance beam and floor exercise.

The Hicks' have three children and live in Rancho Santa
Margarita, Calif.